Saturday, April 16, 2016

Book Review | DON'T YOU CRY by Mary Kubica

In downtown Chicago, a young woman named Esther Vaughan disappears from her apartment without a trace. A haunting letter addressed to My Dearest is found among her possessions, leaving her friend and roommate Quinn Collins to wonder where Esther is and whether or not she’s the person she thought she knew.

Meanwhile, in a small Michigan harbor town an hour outside of Chicago, a mysterious woman appears in the quiet coffee shop where eighteen-year-old Alex Gallo works as a dish washer. He is immediately drawn to her charm and beauty, but what starts as an innocent crush quickly spirals into something far more dark and sinister than he ever expected.

As Quinn searches for answers about Esther, and Alex is drawn further under Pearl’s spell, master of suspense Mary Kubica takes readers on a taut and twisted thrill ride that builds to a stunning conclusion and shows that no matter how fast and far we run, the past always catches up with us in the end. ~Goodreads

I LOVE it. Mary Kubica is now officially a favorite. I enjoyed both The Good Girl and Pretty Baby last year. Their stories are not easily forgotten, I can still vividly recall them. And DON’T YOU CRY is another statement of her brilliance.

Like the other two previous books, this one is also narrated from different POVs. I believe that’s one of the book’s attractions. Different POVs gets the book to cover more grounds, and although the plot tends to wind, it never gets boring. This style also gives the reader a broader view; diversity of thoughts, and ruminations gives a better thrill. And, Ms. Kubica used this style very wisely.

The book is unbelievably well-written. The psychological thrill lies in the chase for some elusive answers. I love how Ms. Kubica dangle those answers right in front of the reader, but always out of reach, until the last stretch, and then, shock takes root and reacting is utterly difficult. Agreeably, everything was cleverly tied together in the end. I believe that a good psychological thriller should be exactly like that.

This review is frustratingly vague, I know, but I don’t want to spoil anything. A warning though, this book challenges the reader with questions from the very beginning of the story. So, you’ll be very tempted to take a peak. Hold on to that temptation, but never peak.